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Staten Island Yankees
|ballpark = Richmond County Bank Ballpark (2001-present) |pastparks = College of Staten Island Baseball Complex (1999-2000) |leaguechamps = 2000, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2011 |divisionchamps = 2000, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011 |misc6 = |owner = New York Yankees Heritage Partners, LLC |manager = Justin Pope |gm = Jane Rogers }} The Staten Island Yankees are a minor league baseball team, located in the New York City borough of Staten Island. Nicknamed the "Baby Bombers," the Yankees are a Short-Season A classification affiliate of the New York Yankees and play in the New York - Penn League at Richmond County Bank Ballpark along the waterfront in St. George. The Yankees are the defending champion of the NY-Penn League having won the title in 2011. Team history The Staten Island Yankees were brought to Staten Island in 1999 in a deal brokered by Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. The team came from the Watertown Indians and the Oneonta Yankees. The Staten Island Yankees played their first two seasons at College of Staten Island Baseball Complex before moving into the Richmond County Bank Ballpark for the 2001 season. The first SI Yankee to reach the major leagues as a New York Yankee was pitcher Jason Anderson, pitching in relief in an 8-4 Yankee win over the Toronto Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre. The first Staten Island Yankee to reach the majors for any team was Wily Mo Peña, who broke in with the Cincinnati Reds. On March 26, 2006, the Staten Island Advance reported that the teams' majority owners, the Getzler family, were considering selling their 51 percent share of the team, and were asking for between three and five million dollars. The New York Yankees purchased the Getzler's interest in the team and in return hired Mandalay Sports Properties to run the day-to-day operations of the team. Part of the agreement was that the New York Yankees and Mandalay become equal partners and Mandalay now owns 50% of the Staten Island Yankees. In 2006, the Yankees were managed by Gaylen Pitts, noted for frequently being ejected from games. In a game on August 25, 2006, Pitts was ejected and then returned to the field in sandals after a batter was hit by a pitch in the 9th inning of a 21-6 victory over the Brooklyn Cyclones. In 2007, the Yankees were managed by Mike Gillespie, who led the 1998 USC Trojans to a College World Series championship. Gillespie led the Baby Bombers to their third consecutive playoff appearance before losing to the Brooklyn Cyclones in 2007 NYPL Playoffs, 2 games to none. Former Florida Gator coach Pat McMahon managed the Yankees for the 2008 season. Former major league catcher Josh Paul managed the Yankees for the 2009 season and will return for the 2010 season. Due to Dave Eiland taking a leave of absence, manager Josh Paul was summoned to fill in as the New York Yankees bullpen coach. Until Paul returns former major leaguer Jody Reed is filling in a the interim manager for the Staten Island Yankees. Staten Island Yankees Recaps On June 16, 1999, in Oneonta, New York at Damaschke Field, Brad Ticehurst became the first batter in Staten Island Yankees history. The Yankees were managed by Joe Arnold. Oneonta won the game 4-3. The Yankees home opener was on June 20, 1999, facing the Hudson Valley Renegades in front of 4,547 fans on the campus of the College of Staten Island. This marked the first professional baseball game played on the island since 1889. The Yankees won the game 5-1. In 2000, in the McNamara Division series the Yankees beat the Kings two games to one and go on to the Championship series. The Yankees went on to beat the Mahoning Valley Scrappers two games to one to win the 2000 NY-Penn League Championship. In 2001, the Yankees finished second to the eventual McNamara Division and Series Champions, the Brooklyn Cyclones. The Yankees lost in a classic series against the Cyclones, 2 games to 1. In 2002 during the playoffs, the Yankees would go on to sweep the Oneonta Tigers to win the 2002 NY – Penn League Championship on September 12, 2002. Matt Brumit came in to close all four games, receiving the save in each contest. The 2003 and 2004 Yankees were plagued with errors and finished in last place. On July 14, 2003, the Yankees celebrated Jason Anderson Day, while his number 19 was officially retired. Jason Anderson became the first former SI Yankee to play for the NY Yankees, however, he was traded to the Mets the very next day. The Yankees primary logo was introduced in their inaugural season and used on advertisements and publications only. On the field, the team wore New York Yankees uniforms that featured the flag patch of Staten Island on the sleeve. In 2000, the Yankees introduced their own style of the New York Yankees jersey which features the Yankees script across the chest with Staten Island written in the tail. These style uniforms were used from 2000-2007 with some minor changes to the sleeve patch in 2003 when the Staten Island Yankees logo patch was removed and the New York Yankees logo patch added. Also in 2003, Staten Island replaced their batting practice jersey which originally features the Yankees script logo across the chest with one that featured the Interlocking SI logo. In 2002, the Staten Island Yankees introduced the interlocking SI logo that was reminiscent of the New York Yankees NY logo. It received a minor facelift just prior to the 2007 season when a hat and bat was added to the logo. While it is not the team’s primary logo, it is used more than the primary on advertisements and graphics. Prior to the 2008 season, the Staten Island Yankees unveiled brand new logos and uniforms. It was the second time the Baby Bombers have made changes to their logo set, the third time they changed their primary uniforms, and the fourth time they changed their batting practice/alternate jerseys. The new primary Staten Island home jersey features the interlocking SI logo with the hat and bat while a new pinstripe alternate was introduced that uses an alternate script Y logo that is also features on the team’s primary home and road cap. The road jersey remained the same except with the new SINY logo patch that was added to all the game jerseys on the left sleeve. The Yankees introduced two alternate caps, one that features the interlocking SI logo with the hat and bat and the other featuring the SINY logo. The batting practice jersey now features the script Y logo on the left chest with a flex-fit mesh hat that features a stylized top hat logo. It was announced by the NY-Penn League that Richmond County Bank Ballpark will be the site of the 2010 NYPL All-Star Game, which will be played on August 17, 2010 In 2010, a Staten Island Yankee, Chase Whitley, got the save in the 2010 NYPL All-Star Game on August 17, 2010. The AL rallied back for 3 runs and Chase sealed the victory 4-3. In 2011 the Staten Island Yankees were sold for the second time in a five year span to a Connecticut-based investment group. Year-by-year record Facts and Firsts *Total Attendance **Ballpark at CSI ***1999 - 117,765 ***2000 - 102,697 **Richmond County Bank Ballpark at St. George ***2001 - 188,127 ***2002 - 181,936 ***2003 - 163,432 ***2004 - 147,572 ***2005 - 155,531 ***2006 - 115,395 ***2007 - 164,207 ***2008 - 189,876 ***2009 - 206,635 ***2010 - 209,018 *RCB Ballpark Dimensions **LF - 320 feet **CF - 390 feet **RF - 318 feet *SI Yankee Firsts **Game - Wednesday, June 16, 1999 vs Oneonta Tigers (at Damaschke Field, Oneonta, NY – L3-4) **Pitch - 7:12 by Calvin Chipperfield (Oneonta) to Brad Ticehurst (Staten Island) a ball, low and outside *Batting Firsts **Batter - Brad Ticehurst (6-16-99 vs. Oneonta) **Base runner - Brad Ticehurst (led off walk, 6-16-99 vs. Oneonta) **Hit - Seth Talyor, single (first inning, 6-16-99 vs. Oneonta) **Double - Jeff Leaumont (first inning, 6-16-99 vs. Oneonta) **Triple - Mike Perini (ninth inning, 6-22-99 vs. Hdson Valley) **Home Run - Brad Ticehurst (6-22-99 vs. Hudson Valley) **Grand Slam - Angel Valdez (6-22-99 vs. Hudson Valley) **Stolen Base - Seth Talyor (first inning, 6-16-99 vs. Oneonta) **Run - Brad Ticehurst (first inning, 6-16-99 vs. Oneonta) **RBI - Dominic Correa(RBI ground out to shortstop in first inning, 6-16-99 vs. Oneonta) **HBP - Brad Ticehurst (eighth inning, 6-16-99 vs. Oneonta) *Pitching Firsts **Strikeout - Rosman Garcia (struck out Deurys Reyes of Oneonta 6-16-99) **Shutout - vs. Lowell (Graman 7.0 IP and Swiatkiewicz, 2.0 IP, 7-20-99) **Complete Game (seven innings) - Andy Beal at New Jersey, 5-0 win in game one (8-19-2000) **Complete Game (nine innings) - Jason Arnold at Vermont, 8-0 no hitter (7-27-2001) **Win - vs Vermont (Jason Faigin, 6-19-99) **Loss - vs. Oneonta (Jose Franco, 6-16-99) **Save - vs. Utica (Jose Franco, 6-23-99) **No-Hitter - vs. Vermont (Jason Arnold, complete game, 7-27-2001) **Perfect Game - never *Miscellaneous Firsts **First extra-innings game - vs Hudson Valley (6-22-99, 11 innings, 9-6 loss) **First extra-inning win - vs. Pittsfield (7-18-99, 11 innings, 6-5 win) **First rain out - at Oneonta (6-17-99, make up date: July 21 at Staten Island, 5-3 loss) **First doubleheader - vs. Oneonta (7-21-99, game one: 5-3 loss, game two: 2-1 win (10 innings) **First triple play - never Notable alumni Since their inception the Staten Island Yankees have a total of 42 players to reach the major leagues not including players who have played for the team while on a rehab assignment. *David Phelps (baseball) *Francisco Cervelli *David Parrish *Omir Santos *Andy Cannizaro *Robinson Cano *Bernie Castro *Justin Christian *Andy Phillips *Melky Cabrera *Matt Carson *Shelley Duncan *Brett Gardner *John-Ford Griffin *Mitch Jones *Wily Mo Pena *Bronson Sardinha *Manny Acosta *Jason Anderson *John Axford *TJ Beam *Colter Bean *Justin Berg *Brandon Claussen *Phil Coke *Matt DeSalvo *Michael Dunn *Anderson Garcia *Alex Graman *Eric Hacker *Brad Halsey *Sean Henn *Jeff Karstens *Ian Kennedy *Charlie Manning *Daniel McCutchen *Mark Melancon *Matt Smith *Chien-Ming Wang *Chase Wright The Following players have made rehab appearances for the Staten Island Yankees. *Orlando Hernandez (2001) *Jose Contreras (2003) *Kevin Brown (2004) *Steve Karsay (2004) *Felix Rodriguez (2005) *Octavio Dotel (2006) *Jeff Karstens (2007) - Only former SI Yankee to return on a MLB rehab assignment *Darrell Rasner (2007) *Jonathan Albaladejo (2008) Mascots The mascots and personalities of the SI Yankees were among the first to have a major following in the low Minor League system. They have been featured in TV shows and magazines in both the U.S. and Japan, and invited to guest appear at many East Coast Minor League stadiums. They have won honors from several independent baseball magazines and organizations. The original Staten Island Yankees Mascot is Scooter "the holy" Cow. A combination of NY Yankees shortstop, Phil "Scooter" Rizzuto, and his commentating catch phrase "Holy Cow!". Scooter debuted for the Staten Island Yankees when the franchise relocated from Watertown, NY in 1999. In the summer of 2003, the Baby Bombers debuted Scooter's brothers Red and Huckleberry. Since then, Scooter and his brothers have been a staple at SI Yankee games, leading fan rallies and between inning on field games. The three cows, have known to have a "stooges" like relationship, often with the two "newer" cows "Red" and "Huck" teaming up to trick and trap Scooter. The Mascots are even featured in the team's annual baseball cards. Retired numbers * 19 - Jason Anderson * 41 - Chien-Ming Wang * 17 - Robinson Canó Uniform Gallery Image:SIYankeeHomeJersey.gif|Home Jersey (2000 - 2007) Image:SIYankeeRoadJersey.gif|Road Jersey (2000 - 2007) Image:SIYankeeBPJersey.gif|BP Jersey (2003 - 2007) References External links *Staten Island Yankees web site *Baseball-Reference.com Category:Minor League Baseball teams Category:New York - Penn League teams Category:Teams in New York Category:New York Yankees affiliates